What are search engines?
Hello there and welcome back! If you’ve ever had a question about search engines like how the hell they always know exactly what you are searching for, you are in the right place. In this article we will explain everything you need to know about them, so let’s go!
Search engines are web services that help people find information on the internet
Search engines were created to help people find what they want when they type a few words into a search box and hit “search.” Search engines also catalog pages and make them easier to find through keyword searches.
Search engine technology is built around indexing, the process of extracting information from documents for later use. When you use a search engine, you are asking it to go out into cyberspace and retrieve certain pieces of data from websites like keywords from this article and then deliver them back to you in your browser as search results.
A little bit about the first ever search engine
The first working search engine was called Archie. It was launched in 1990. Archie is short for “archives.”
Archie was created by Alan Emtage at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and ran out of his home computer. At that time, it only indexed a few dozen servers on the Internet but it was a start!
Archie is based on the Unix command gopher. Today we call this type of service an archive.
Search engines work by crawling the web
Search engines work by using software programs called spiders or crawlers to “crawl” through the Web. They look for websites on the Internet that contain the words a user has typed into an input box on a search engine results page (SERP). The crawler will then index these sites based on how many times certain words appear in them so when someone searches for something like “how to bake a cake,” they’ll get links to websites containing information about baking cakes.
Search engines use algorithms to determine what results are shown when you search for something
Search engines use algorithms to determine what results are shown. Algorithms help the search engine identify and rank relevant content, which is why they work best when they’re designed with a specific purpose in mind like finding restaurants in your area.
Well, that’s the end of our lesson on search engines. We’ve covered how search engines work and what goes into making sure the results you see when you enter a query are relevant for you. Next time you use a search engine, think about all the people who worked hard to make sure it works properly!
